Billy and Emerelda
by D-Seer
Summary: Takes place just before the end of the game, a little story about Emerelda's upgrade. Safe rating, because even though I don't swear, the characters do. Spoilers are rampant, you have been warned. Anyone got a better title for me?


[a megaphone appears in thin air, and begins speaking at volume;] **DSeer does not own Xenogears, though he does own two copies of said game. He does not own any gears from said game in any form. He does not own Billy or Emerelda nor any other characters from said game. DSeer also has no money, so don't bother to sue him.** [megaphone dissappears with a pop]

* * *

**Billy and Emerelda; Billy**

Down into the darkness under the lighthouse, The Zeboim Era. Fie had memories of that time, closely related to the second person in the party, Emeralda. I was the third in the line, following Crescent with my own OmniKnight. Xenogears had the point, always.

Big Joe was down there... He was a person who made me worry. I don't think he realized how much he was lacking, especially after Fie told me how little his hits had hurt in the tournament. Fie found a reel of the Zeboim era, containing an image of Miang. 

At the thought of Miang, my thoughts turned to Elly. 

Before we were introduced, I was telling her to back off from my sister. When My father explained what had happened, I of course apologized, and agreed to help Fie in any way possible. I joined the party to justify myself, to earn the title of Etone, to atone for my sins, those of my father, and those of my very own innocence. 

Elly was someone who you knew, not consciously, and not right away, but the more time you spent with her the more you realized, or perhaps remembered. She was one of the very few totally pure people, someone who loved everyone unconditionally. She was someone I looked up to. To save us, she sacrificed herself... for the sake of her friends. 

And we still ended up fighting. 

I digress, I am sorry. Fie said his instruments saw an entrance nearby, which turned out to be down a sewer whole, into the subway. This day was very important to me, for when we went down there, Emeralda was approximately eight years old. 

Down the sewer, through the subway to the balcony overlooking the Christmas tree. Emeralda had raced ahead, Fie alone walked over to his daughter. They remembered together what had happened. Then, the young one began to glow. 

When I blinked, the person standing next to Fie was Emeralda, but now, she was eighteen. 

---

Emeralda was in the gun room. I knew she was there. I was in the Gear bay. My Omni-Knight was an omni-gear made by the remaining sages of Shevat, they used the battle data based on my fighting with the original Omni-Knight, and made of the nanomachines, based on Emeralda's construction. 

And back to Emmy. I should go see her. I wonder what she thinks of me... 

This is very pathetic... 

"Billy?" 

I turned around to see Maria. A sweet child, who, in the end, ended up killing what was left of her father with her monstrous gear Siebzhen She didn't want to, she's only what, eight years old? But her father had actually died years ago when he gave himself up to Solaris. All that was left of Nikolia was a program that activated in his daughters' presence to open up Siebzhen's main gun. Siebzhen fired of it's own accord, though she blames herself, I know... 

"Hello Maria. How are you doing?" 

"Have you seen Emeralda?" She grew up!" I smiled sadly. 

"Yes, I saw her." 

"What you gonna do with your gear?" she asked. 

"Nothing... Just look at him." 

"Yeah, sometimes it's just relaxing to be with someone who understands you unconditionally, as we allow our Gears' to know us. Why is it that the Gears are considered ours, anyway? Can't they be piloted by anyone?" We started walking in the general direction of the Gun Room. 

"Well, Take Xenogears for instance. He had been evolved from Weltall-2, which had been the repaired version of Weltall. Fie has piloted that Gear for almost, what was it, fifty thousand years? Fie knows the controls for Weltall. Sure, you or I could get in the cockpit for the Gear, but we wouldn't be able to bring about its full potential. Only Fie can do that. He understands that gear just like you understand your Siezbhen; you know where all the controls are at, you know how fast he'll respond to your requests, you know his personality. Just like me and Omni-Knight. 

"What amazes me was how similar Verge was to Elly's Omni-Gear." 

"Fate requires no explanation. Coincidences are when God chooses to remain anonymous." I looked over to Margie as she walked out of her room. 

"Hello Margie." 

"Hi!" Maria said. 

"Oh! Wait here!" Margie turned back to her room, "Your brother's out here, want to get some dinner with him?" 

Presently, my sister appeared under my elbow. She looked up at me and smiled. 

"Hello to you too, sister. Let's go get something to eat." 

We hadn't yet fought Dues, and Fie was working on our levels, he had Doc and Rico with him right now. After Margie and Primera joined us, we did not pick up our conversation on the gears again. 

---

After dinner, Prim and I played a game of chess. 

It was nice playing chess like we used to, but when a whispered "Checkmate," was said, I looked up at my sister, and then looked down at the board. I looked up to see Emeralda. 

"I've been playing with her. She is a very good student." My sister smiled up at the life form, she smiled back fondly. She had become more human as well. 

"You play," my sister said looking at the woman with Green hair. She then stood up from her chair and began to set the board back up for Em and I to play a game of chess. Emerelda nodded. 

She sat down and turned the table around so I had white, and nodded to me to make my first move. 

We challenged each other for hours that day, my sister a silent referee. Chu-chu came to watch after a bit but swiftly lost interest, and took prim to play a game. I was amazed at her ability. When she had won and walked away, I studied the board for a while. 

"You'll never beat Emeralda, Billy, not in chess." Fie said from the bottom of the stairs. 

"Why is that?" I asked standing up to continue the conversation as he was headed upstairs. 

"A long time ago, I had created the game of chess, then I, as Kim, had placed all of that knowledge into my little girl." 

"Truly?" he nodded. "So I have no hope?" 

"Of course you do. It is a question of learning her technique, and her weaknesses. As Kim, I can't believe she has any of the latter, but as Fie, I know she does, because she does have a soul. Both Kim and I agree to that." 

"Of course she does." 

"Well. I'm taking Chu-Chu and Maria out. I'll be back in a while. Keep one thing in mind, I'm taking you and Emeralda into the castle that is Deus." 

"I'll tell her." He nodded and walked away. I looked over to where Emeralda sat at the table. She wasn't doing anything, just staring at the wall. 

"Are you bored Billy?" She asked, her attention unwavering from the wall. 

"Not particularly, why?" 

"I seem to fascinate you. Margie, who also holds religious beliefs, similar, but different, to yours, has an easier time accepting me as a person than you seem to." 

"You think I hate you?" 

"I do not know." 

"I do not hate you Emeralda." 

"Not even because I beat you in chess?" She asked turning her face to me. 

"It takes a lot to beat me in chess, but that is not cause for hate, or dislike, that is cause for respect. I'll admit to some embarrassment, but then, I haven't been able to play the game for a long time." 

"So, if you do not hate me, why do you sometimes simply stare at me?" 

"I wonder about you. What you think, what you are, how you think, if you think of yourself as I or we, if you think of yourself at all. We all have questions Emeralda. I wonder what questions you have. 

She looked to the table, an air of abstract thought surrounding her. "Some are about you. Some about Kim, Fie, Elly; Fie's, and Kim's. Some are about people". 

"If I can help you, I will." She looked back to me. 

"I know. You are much like Kim was to me." 

"How is that?" 

"Kim did not like the human race. I was made in a time when the Gears were used for actual war, some ripped to pieces by quantum bombs, the humans within screaming for mercy even though none could hear them. He was sickened by the Nature of humans. That was why he built me, to give humans an example to live up to. Kim and Elly had made me for humans to have hope. He knew that humans were smarter than they seemed, and deep below all that hatred and bitterness..." Emerelda said, and then stood up. As she walked away she finished her thought. 

"Kim loved all people." 

---

My father found me sitting there. 

"Watcha doin' kid? It's past Midnight, ya'oughtta be asleep." 

"Ought to, can't." 

"Why not?" He said as he pulled a chair out. 

"I spoke with Emerelda, must have been at least an hour ago. She gave me some things to think about." 

"You like her, doncha?" 

I smiled. Trust my father to notice something like that. "I think maybe. You know she's been teaching Prim to play chess?" 

"Great, now someone can finally beat you. Other than me, I mean." 

"You could never beat me in chess Father." 

"Whatcha willin' ta bet?" 

I pulled out one of the bullets for my Godson weapon. He accepted. 

Between Emeralda and Jessie, I didn't get to bed until four o'clock. 

And yes, I won. 

---

I woke the next morning with a hangover, thanks be to my father. 

When I reached the Gun Room, Emerelda was waiting for me with a draught. "You were drinking alcohol with your father?" 

"Heavily..." I said, putting the draught to my lips and downing it. Instantly, I felt better. "Wow." 

"Some people it works with. It does not work with your father, I was afraid it would not work for you, but we got lucky." 

"Do I even want to know what's in it?" She just looked at me, her expression bland. "All right. So how are you doing this morning?" 

"All systems are functioning..." 

"Do you always sound like a robot?" I interrupted. She paused for a moment. 

"I'm doing fine Billy, thank you. And you?" 

I couldn't help but smile as I told her; "Much, much better than I was five seconds ago, thank you very much." She nodded and considered me for a moment. Finally she decided. 

"Would you come with me, Billy?" There is something I would like to show you." I nodded... 

---

We went down to the Gear bay, got Omni-Knight and Crescent, and Left the Yggsadrasil III. 

We went back to the light house. Instead of going in the front door, Emerelda led me around to the back of the lighthouse where there was what looked like a ladder, but Emeralda and I would never be able to climb it. It was made as a ladder for Gears. 

"We climb." Emeralda told me over the com-unit. Crescent raised her wing to the first rung, and the side of the building folded in to accommodate the hand of the Gear. It's not like we were damaging the building, it was made to accommodate Gear hand's and feet. 

When we reached the top, Emeralda stopped, and climbed out of Crescent. "Are you a good climber?" 

"Not particularly." 

"All right then, I'll let you down the line." she said and leaped up the arm she had left over the edge. With perfect aim, a line landed right by the door. I wrapped it around my waist, and Emerelda pulled me up. Once I had a grip on the edge, Emerelda drew her line back to her, then gave me a hand up. I looked down from the light house, and my breath caught. 

"Come with me Billy." Emeralda said and drew me away from the edge. She drew me to the light. "Kim and Elly used to bring me here, a long time ago... A very long time ago, I suppose." she said raggedly. She climbed the room of the Light, turned to help me up, and then walked to the west side and sat down. 

I looked around, and I felt like I... Was on the top of the world. Every direction I looked, I saw blue sky, white-capped gray mountains, brown earth, green grasses, and darker forests. 

"Wow..." 

"You get a really nice sunset." 

"I don't think I could even imagine..." 

"Then sit with me. Wait with me." I started to object, but Emerelda countered with; "I told your sister where we were going. She said she would tell Fie if he started looking for us." I nodded and then sat down. 

For awhile we just sat there, admiring the view. Emeralda sat to my left, watching the view with no noticeable emotion. 

"What do you wonder about me Billy?" she asked without looking to me. 

"I wonder if you can feel." 

"With my hands, or my heart?" 

"Either... both." She nodded, and then placed her hand on the steel between us. 

"This is smooth, and cold, and hard." she then turned to me and placed her hand on my check. "This is shaven, warm, and soft." she then looked out over the vista again. "I can feel the love from Kim and Elly across the ages that still follows me. I can feel the affection of Fie, but he is more a brother, or an uncle to me than Kim was. Kim was my father... I loved him. I know I loved him, because I still miss him. but beside that, I don't know what Love would feel like to me." 

"So you feel lonely?" I guessed. 

She faced me and asked, "I feel alone... is that the same?" I put my arm around her and nodded. 

"But your not Alone..." I said, and looked back to the west. She set her head against my shoulder, and we watched the sun travel down the sky. 

---

It was well past midnight when we got back to the Yggaadrasil. 

"You are aware that you may ask." 

"I know." 

"So why don't you?" Three blinks. 

"Tomorrow we will talk." 

She walked away. 

I lay on the bunk, staring into the darkness. For most of the day we had just watched the sun travel down the sky. We didn't talk a whole lot, though I came away with a far greater understanding of her when I left. 

She did have a soul, but she hid it behind a facade of her creation. In other words: She did not believe she had a soul. She was dubious as to weather or not she even had emotions... 

If only I had spent more time in my programming classes... 

---

When the light came on, I rolled over and tried to get some sleep, but Prim came and jumped on my back. 

"Good morning silly." She smiled at me and then asked me a question. 

"And why should I tell you anything?" She put an evil smirk on her face. 

"Father already knows." her jaw dropped. She slugged me in the shoulder. "What do you say we go get something to eat?" she nodded. 

---

I pressed the third button in the elevator to take us to the mess hall. Emeralda wasn't there, but Yui was, Citan's wife had transferred from Shevat to the Yggsadrsil when it crashed. She automatically took over the mess hall, making it fit to serve again. 

"Hey Billy, Hello Primera." she called over to us. 

"Good morning Yui." my sister nodded. 

"So what can I make for you this morning?" 

"Oatmeal?" I asked my sister. When she nodded, I turned to Yui, "You got Oatmeal?" She nodded, and got us some bowls. 

We were sitting at a table off in the corner when Citan came in, looked around. 

"Yui!" She looked to her husband. "Have you seen Rico this morning?" She shook her head. Citan looked around the room and saw me. "Billy, can you help me find Rico? No your eating... If you see him, tell him to go talk to Bart." I nodded, He fled out the door. I raised my eyebrows at Prim, and she giggled. The elevator opened again, and it was Emeralda. 

"Hello Emeralda, Anything I can get for you this morning?" 

"No thank you Yui. I was just looking for these two." She said, and then walked over to us. 

"Good morning Emeralda." 

"Call me Em, please, or Emmy, if you'd like. Good morning Prim." 

"Hi Em!" My sister said very quietly. 

"Lovely, young Primera, would you like to play a game today?" She shook her head no and looked to me. 

"I think she wants us to play again." Em said 

"I don't think so, Prim. She handed me my bottom on a silver platter last time." Emeralda raised her eyebrow. "You won." she nodded. "Do you ever smile?" I asked her, not accusingly, just... curious. The muscles around her eyes shifted. 

"On very special occasions." 

"Such as?" 

"Her victories." 

"Oh, so you let her win-" 

"Let nothing." she interrupted me. "She wins, and she hands me my butt on a silver platter when she does. It is determination that allows humans to learn. And she has a large amount of determination." 

"Almost as much as you, huh?" 

The muscles around her mouth shifted. 

"Maybe more. At any rate, I would like to play you again, if you are up to the challenge?" 

"Sure." 

---

The battle lasted longer this time, most of the day. We sat at the bottom of the stairs and battled our wits. Primera was kind enough to bring us lunch, or rather her and I, Em wasn't hungry, she waved off. 

"You don't eat much?" I asked her as she made her move. 

Her eyebrow twitched. "Each of my nanomachines have their own micro sized nuclear reactor. I have no need of food." 

I made my move, she moved right away. My face betrayed nothing as I discovered the trap was almost complete. Hers; not mine. She expected me to move my king. 

I moved my rook. Emeralda blinked and frowned deeper. 

Behind her eyes (or maybe in?) a million different possible scenarios were being worked out. All said the same thing. She smiled at me. 

"I haven't won yet Em." She laughed at that. 

"Oh really?" I am capable of running approximately twelve hundred trillion operations per second, and even if you made every mistake you possibly could, you still capture my king, and thus win." she stood up. 

"Good game Billy. You might be able to beat your sister now." Her smile flared, then faded. She walked away. 

"You really do like her, doncha?" The king of Aveh asked me. 

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I asked, not looking at my friend. 

"Because we have eyes. Not the doc, of course, but every one else. Even Rico. Even Fie." 

"Fie?" Bart nodded. I dumped myself, extremely unceremoniously, onto the couch. 

"Would you like his message?" 

What have I got to lose? "Sure, why not?" 

Bart handed me a letter. He then turned away, and went down the hall to Margie's room. I went down to OmniKnight.

* * *

Billy; 

We don't know if we will survive this. I can only ask one thing of you. If we do survive, please, take care of Emmy. She is still our hope for the future, and I know that if anyone can convince her that she has a soul, it will be you. I owe you for saving my life when we went to the Thames. I am afraid I must enter further into your debt with this request. Please, keep her safe. 

Slayer of God; 

Fie Fong Wong

* * *

---

"Billy?" My Ether gun was in my hand and trained on the speaker before I woke up. 

"Maria?" I said, My hand not moving. Maria froze the second the gun was brought to bear on her. I blinked and lowered my gun. "Sorry." she let out a shaky breath. 

"Remind me to never sneak up on you." she said from the entrance into the OmniKnight. "Emeralda was looking for you." 

"Where is she now?" 

"Her room." she said and leaped down. 

"I'm sorry Maria!" She stopped, turned back to me and smiled at me. Then left at a more sedate pace for her Seibzhen. 

I sat there for a moment wondering why she didn't come to look for me herself, but decided that this wasn't important enough to find me now, but too important to wait until the next time I see her. I got out of OmniKnight, and walked toward the gun room. 

"I couldn't find you." she told me when I walked in, not bothering to look at me. 

"I was in my gear-" 

"No." she interrupted. She was curled up in a corner of the bed she always stood on. "I was in a state that you might consider sleeping, and... I had a dream." She was obviously upset, but she wasn't allowing her face to show her shock. 

"What happened?" I asked as I approached the bed. 

"I don't know, this is the first time I have ever dreamed." 

"Could this be an affect of your..." 

"Aging process? Perhaps." 

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" she nodded, then took a deep breath, and asked me to sit by her, wordlessly. 

"Kim why did you do this to me? I was... standing, maybe on an island, at first I thought I was in Crescent, but then I realized I was looking out from her shoulder. I leaped down. You should have been behind me, or somewhere near. but I couldn't see anything at ground level, due to a fog that went up to Crescent's waist. I... I couldn't find you anywhere and... and I was scared." 

An emotional response. I put my arm around her, and when she leaned into me, I folded her into a hug. Life is not an error. "It's all right Emmy... I'm here." 

"I know... I know..." she said and silently cried into my shoulder. 

She cried herself to sleep.... I can no longer treat her like a computer, for if she has dreams, she cannot be a computer. I laid her down on her bed, and I left. Bart saw me leave her quarters. 

"Hey Billy, is Emmy in there?" I shushed him and took him up the stairs. 

"Em's asleep. Do you know where Doc is?" 

"He's in the cafeteria I think. C'mon, I'll help ya find him." 

We went to the cafe, and Yui told us he had left, thought he'd go take a nap, so we went to the rest room. No one there had seen him. We went to talk to Margie 

She hadn't seen him. She thought he might be taking a nap inside of Wolf, the Doc's Omnigear. I drew my gun and twirled it. 

Doc wasn't in his gear. 

I finally found him in the engine room. 

"So then this...!" Doc said aloud. 

"Hey Doc!" I yelled. 

"Billy, How are you doing?" 

"Emerelda had a dream." 

"I..." He stopped. "She what?" 

---

"She what?" Fie asked. I got enough luck that Fie was on board for the moment, So Doc, Bart and I tracked him to the bridge, he had been pouring over the maps, but dropped everything and we went to the Gun room to discuss it. 

"She had a dream. She-" 

"No." Fie interrupted. "Don't. She trusts you, let's not jeopardize that. She had a dream... Dnm. I wish I could remember more of Kim's lifetime. Especially the code for his little girl. Dnm." 

"So what should I do?" 

"Try and help me." she said. I gasped... and slowly turned around... 

She wasn't there. 

"Try and help her understand what's going on, even when you haven't a clue. Learn with her as to what's going on." 

I looked to Fie, then glanced at Bart and Citan. 

"Did anyone else hear that?" Doc was focused on something else, Fie and Bart just looked at me, confused. I nodded. "Never mind. As per Emmy, I'll help her any way I can." 

"I know you will." I looked behind me again, She still wasn't there. 

"Billy-" Bart began, but I cut him off. I tapped my ear and pointed downstairs. 

"She's awake." I whispered. 

"But how..?" I smiled and shook my head, turned and walked away. Emerelda walked up the stairs and fell in step beside me, and we went to the cafeteria. I had caught a look at Fie, Doc and Bart on the way out. Bart's jaw was on the floor, Doc was staring at the floor in deep contemplation. Fie was looking after us with a fond smile on his face. 

"Your top button in case your wondering." I nodded. she reached over and touched the button, it dissolved and flowed into her finger, leaving a button identical to the ones below it. "I hope you don't mind." 

"Not at all, but you shouldn't really eavesdrop on private conversations." 

"I'll try." 

"Good. Now, I know you don't need to eat, but what do you say we have some dinner anyway?" 

"All right." 

We had a nice dinner together, Primera had shown up about halfway through and joined us. She had walked into the cafeteria, looked around, spotted us, and tried to make a hasty retreat, but I had spotted her, and motioned her over, so the three of us enjoyed a nice leisurely meal, and then went and watched a movie at the bottom of the stairs. 

When the movie ended, I stood up and stretched, then looked first at Prim, sleeping on Em's lap, and then and Em. I reached to pick up my sister, but Em shook her head. I stood there for a moment, indecisively. Then I reached forward and picked her up as well. 

She was lighter than she looked, I easily adjusted to the added burden of her and my sister. 

I saw her eyes widened as I lifted her through the air. 

"What are you doing?!" 

I looked at her as I lifted the two and walked to Emeralda's room. 

I stood in front of the door and waited for it to open. 

"Billy, what are you doing?" I smiled as the door open. 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I asked silently, knowing Em could easily read my question, as I laid her down on her bed. Unconsciously on her part, her clothes automatically changed from her nomadic cape and red kerchief into a long silk nightgown as I set her down. 

"Billy, are you staring?" looked up at Emerelda's eyes. She revealed nothing in her eyes. I reached again for my sister. "I'll take care of her," a she said, her voice still emotionless. I nodded my head, and left. 

---

My sister jumped on me the next morning by way of waking me up. My eye cracked open and I rolled over. 

She reached over, and opened my eye. 

"Go away Prim." I said, removing her hand, my eye sliding shut once again. 

She opened both of my eyes. 

"What do you want?" 

In her silent way, she told me that Emerelda... was crying. 

"What happened?" 

She punched me in the chest. 

"How could I have done anything?" 

She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, on the screen of the back of my eyelids played an series of images. The first was the three of us watching the movie. Then was me carrying the two of them into her room. 

"You were awake?" she placed her hand on my lips to silence me. 

I saw, from the opposite corner of the room, myself walking and sit Em down on her bed. Watch as her clothes changed to her night gown. Above Emerelda, in my sisters sloppy penmanship appeared the writing "Teasing, Maybe flirting." 

The image proceeded until I tried to take Prim again, and the image stopped again. "Disappointed." A second Later, after I had left the room, it stopped again. "Hurt." 

"You hurt her." she said quietly. 

"How?" She shrugged. Her expression added that I had better find out soon. 

"Fine." I stood up, and went to the gun room. 

---

"Well, I guess I'm not the only one who spent a miserable night, am I Billy?" Her back was turned to me. She sat where I had left the bottle. 

"Drinking with your father, Billy, that is forgivable, but drinking by yourself? The whole bottle?" 

She turned to me. "Why'd you do it Billy?" 

"Why do you think?" 

"Billy-" 

"I'm serious." I interrupted. "Why do you think?" 

"How do you purpose I understand your mind?" 

"With... Yours." I was still trying to shake off the hangover. "You, Emerelda, have a mind that, even if it not human, mimics that organ, but on top of that, each of you are capable of making how many trillion operations per second?" Even if you can't know what is going on in my mind you can sure as #e!! make a dnm good guess!" I yelled at her, inches away from her face. 

She pushed me away and stood up, went over to Old Maison, and took some supplies from him. She added those supplies together in a shot glass. Finally, she came back over to me, and handed me the shot glass. 

"Drink." she commanded. 

I snatched the shot glass off her hand and knocked the draught back as if it was the Vodka I had drank last night. 

Instantly, I felt better. 

"Thank you." 

"Now that you are sober, perhaps we can have a **reasonable** conversation?" 

She turned and left the Gun room. 

I followed, but she had disappeared. 

"What are you doing to her?" a young voice asked. 

"I wish I knew." 

---

It was awhile before Emerelda would even look at me. Prim was even worse, she wouldn't even stay in the same room as me. So it was Margie who found me in the cockpit of Omni-Knight. 

"Billy?!" she yelled from the ground in front of my Gear. 

"What's up?" 

"Get down here!" she yelled at me. She was not in her normal cheerful mood. 

I rolled my eyes but obediently dismounted my gear. 

She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the provisions bay behind OmniKnight. 

"Well?" 

"Well, what?" 

"What happened to Emerelda?" 

"I think she's learning how to deal with her emotions. 

"Then what are you doing here? She is sitting in the gunroom, and you haven't so much as looked at her for how long?" 

"Does it matter?" 

"YES!" she ran her hand through her hair. "The last time you spoke with her, you were drunk. Don't interrupt!" she said when I opened my mouth to dispute the fact. I shut my mouth, settled back and stared at her, giving her my full attention. 

"She walked away, not because she was disgusted with you but with the fact you were stupid enough to yell at her while you were drunk. You hurt her again. She wanted you to stay that night. At least in the same room. She feels safe with you, Billy Lee Black! I don't know why. What I do know is that she is waiting for you. 

"I don't know how many times she'll forgive you Billy, but if I were you, I wouldn't make any more mistakes." She, mad at me of course, stormed off. 

---

Emerelda sat staring at the point that marked the center of the table. 

She was waiting. 

I sat down across from her, and she waited still. 

"You'll put a hole in the table, staring at it like that." Her attention, if not her face shifted. She knew I was there at least. 

I looked down to the spot she was staring at, my hands folded in front of me on the table. "I wanted to apologize. You didn't deserve that from me. I was sad... I overreacted, and I am sorry." 

Her hand came to rest on mine. I looked into her gentle eyes. 

"Kim always said forgiveness is Divine. I didn't understand him then... I think I am beginning to now. How would you translate that phrase?" 

"Well... From an Ethos stand point, it would mean you are bringing yourself closer to God. From a Nissan Sect View, it would mean you were making yourself more... Holy. I think. I've never really had an opportunity to speak with Margie about that..." 

She nodded, and faintly smiled. 

"C'mon Billy. We had better find your sister. Let her know the war is off." 

We tracked her down to Em's room. She was sleeping. 

Em looked at me, and I put my finger to my lip signaling her to remain silent. I walked over to my sister, and laid my finger on her nose. She slept on. I applied just a bit of pressure to her nose. 

She reached up and brushed at her nose. 

I put my finger on her nose again. She reacted again. Finally, I held her nose. She squirmed for a bit, then opened her eyes and let out a gasp. She tried to run, but Emerelda caught her. She lifted my sister into her arms, and once there, she gave Emerelda a very strange a look, obviously a question. She nodded, what could almost be considered a smile apparent on her face. She leaned to my sister's right ear and whispered something to her. My sister's face lit up with a smile, and she had only one thing to say to me. "Took you long enough!" 

I had to smile. 

---

It had happened the very next day actually. 

Em, Prim and I were eating breakfast in the cafeteria when Fie walked in. As everyone automatically did, we all looked at him, the commander, the pilot of the mighty Xenogears... The slayer of the Ethos' God. 

Prim's hand clutched tighter around mine. 

He looked around for a moment, his hands on his waist. He spotted us and came over and joined us for breakfast. 

"So the war was finally called off?" He asked as he shoveled some scrambled eggs into his belly. I was startled, Em only nodded, completely unperturbed. 

"Yes Kim, he apologized." 

"Good." he said and smiled towards me. I got the distinct impression that he had played a part in my apologizing. I looked at Em, and she had ignored the exchange, instead she was studying Fie. Fie looked at her when he realized he was being asked a question. 

"It's time isn't it?" 

Fie looked at the plate in front of him. 

"Tomorrow. About two. That OK with you?" Emerelda nodded. "Billy?" 

"Yep." 

"Good. Now, can we finish our breakfast happily?" 

We nodded, but finished our breakfast in silence. 

---

The night found Prim sleeping in Margie's room, and Em and I watching a movie. When it was over, Emerelda shut off the TV. 

"Should I carry you this time?" Em asked me with a smile. I smiled in response as I stood up and picked her up. 

"Billy." she said with a soft smile as she put her arms around my neck. 

"Yes?" I asked as I laid her on her bed. She didn't let go of my neck though. 

"Stay with me... Please?" Her face was blank, but her eyes were pleading. 

"Sure." I said, and was rewarded with a slow smile. She released my neck, and took my hand in an invitation to lay on the bed with her. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and she snuggled up to me. 

"Good night Billy." she said from where she rested against my shoulder. 

I leaned foreword and kissed her hair, "Good night Emerelda. Sweet dreams."

---

[megaphone appears again, this time held in a hand. DSeer shrugs and throws the megaphone away]

The end of the first Chapter. What I have written of the second chapter is on my webpage, but I won't post it here until I have it finished, so if you want more, go there. And if you still want more, read the disclaimer on said page. See you next Story.


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